ATKINS — Mayor Jerry Don Barrett said there is no legal conflict with hiring an alderman to serve on the city’s police force.

Mike Brown held a seat on the Atkins City Council when he was hired to join the city’s police force full-time. After accepting the law enforcement position, Brown resigned from the council, Barrett said.

Barrett said the city consulted with the Arkansas Municipal League and found no legal conflict that would prevent Brown from applying for and accepting the position while on the City Council. The applicable section of the Arkansas Code states that aldermen may not be appointed to a position within the city that has been created or had an increase in compensation during the time the official has been in office.

The position Brown accepted is one of two full-time slots that have remained unfilled for several years.

“These positions have been approved since 1999 for six officers,” he said. “The last year or so we’ve been running on four full-time officers and we’ve been using part-time deputies (from the Pope County Sheriff’s Department).”

Although Brown was not prohibited from accepting a position on the police department while on the City Council, he was required to resign from his position as an alderman. Barrett said if Brown was already a police officer when he ran for office, there would be no conflict because of a statute that allows law enforcement personnel to engage in political activity. However, as a new officer, he was required to relinquish his seat to avoid a conflict of interest.

Brown is not yet a certified police officer and will attend a 13-week training program in Pocahontas. The city will pay Brown’s salary during the training with a portion of funds given to the city by Union Pacific Railroad.

“Union Pacific gave the city $57,000 for the Avenue Four Southeast crossing closing,” Barrett said. “This was an opportune time to hire a local young man and send him to school.”